Brussels, 25/08/2006 (Agence Europe) - Having been given guarantees on the mandate and rules of engagement and command for the UN Interim Force in Lebanon, UNIFIL, the EU Member States were able to clarify their pledges on Friday. UN Secretary General Kofi Annan was able to win over the EU25's foreign ministers at a special meeting in Brussels and get them to make concrete pledges for contributing to the expanded UNIFIL. Briefed on the new rules of engagement for UNIFIL, in line with the mandate adopted by the UN Security Council in Resolution 1701, several Member States announced how many troops they would be providing for the international peacekeeping force. Kofi Annan told reporters that the meeting had been a success and more than half of the forces to be deployed have already been pledged, meaning that it would be possible to send a credible force.
Continued Italian efforts and the announcement on Thursday by President Chirac that he would be sending further French troops also helped break the deadlock and encourage wide participation from EU Member States, which will be making up the backbone of the enlarged UNIFIL, explained French minister Philippe Douste-Blazy at a separate press conference. EU countries will be providing between 5600 and 6900 men for UNIFIL, in addition to the current UNIFIL troops, explained President of the Council, Erkki Tuomioja. Kofi Annan explained that Malaysia, Indonesia and Bangladesh have also offered troops, and negotiations were continuing between Kofi Annan and Turkey. Kofi Annan said he hoped it would be possible to start deployment in the next few days rather than the next few weeks. He said deployment would be organised in three stages, with 3000 to 4000 men being sent in the next few days.
At the meeting, Kofi Annan reassured ministers that UNIFIL's mandate would not be to disarm Hezbollah, but he said that despite this, the blue berets risked being involved in military action and had to be prepared for this, particularly if fighters tried to resist with violence requests from UNIFIL or the Lebanese army to disarm. The new rules of engagement take into account land, sea and air aspects of the mandate and authorise UNIFIL to take any action necessary to ensure no hostile action occurs in the zone it covers. Tuomioja said satisfactory answers had been given to questions about the rules of engagement. Kofi Annan also removed uncertainty about how UNIFIL would be commanded. France, as it requested, will continue to command UNIFIL until February 2007 when the term of office of French General Alain Pellegrini as the commander of the current force runs out. Italy will then take over ground control. Kofi Annan said he wanted an Italian general to be immediately appointed to command a strategic structure in the UN's New York office to oversee the military operations of the expanded UNIFIL. Kofi Annan will be travelling to Lebanon, Israel, the Palestinian Territories and other countries in the region.
From the humanitarian point of view, the Council notes in its conclusions the urgent need to lift Israel's air and sea blockade of Lebanon, but measures have to be taken at the same time to prevent Hezbollah being provided with arms across the border from Syria. An international donor conference will be held in Stockholm, Sweden, on 31 August.
The main pledges announced or confirmed by Member States at Friday's meeting: Italy confirmed its willingness to send up to 3000 troops to southern Lebanon and France pledged to send 1600 more troops for Lebanon, making a total of 2000 French soldiers. The first French infantry battalion may depart in the next few weeks, followed by a second battalion. Spain is prepared to send between 1000 and 1200 troops to Lebanon, and Poland, which already has 214 soldiers in UNIFIL, will increase its contingent to 500. Belgium has promised to send 302 men at first, gradually rising to 394, to provide aid in three areas (mine-clearing, medical aid and reconstruction). Luxembourg will send a mine-clearing team as part of the Belgian contingent. Finland talked about sending 250 men. The United Kingdom cannot send ground troops but is considering sending support for specialist teams by sending two AWACs reconnaissance planes, 6 Jaguar helicopters and a reconnaissance frigate. Germany, Greece and Denmark have pledged to send surveillance ships. The Netherlands and Estonia will not be sending troops. Other countries have expressed willingness to get involved, like Portugal, Hungary, Slovakia and Bulgaria, but have not yet given any concrete figures. Cyprus will provide military infrastructure (ports and airports). UNIFIL currently has 700 European troops (400 French, 214 Polish, 5 Irish and 52 Italians) among its total of 2000 men.